The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1887-04-16
THE KING OF BEASTS.
Its Retirement Before the European In
vasion of Asia and Africa.

It's Retirement Before the European In
vasion OF Asia and Africa.
Considered as direct foe to man, the
lion is not as formidable as its first
cousin, the tiger. Formidable it certain
ly is, but it is losing power yearly. 1t
is being crowded out. /" and many lands
through which it roamed at will can
never again tremble at the thunders of
its earth-shaking roar. Taking, for ex-
ample, acknowledged history, which is
but grain of sand on the shore of Gre
alton, we find that the lion inhabited
Europe. Surprising that a general
European war were to break out, neither
of the combatants would be obliged to
take precautions against the lion as
hindrance to the transport service. Yet
we find Herodotus, '.the Father of His
tory" as he has often been called, to the
utter oblivion of Moses and his unknown
predecessor, the writer of the Book of
the Wars of jehovah" stating that the
army of Xerxes was attacked by lions
near Thessalonica, (now known rs Sa-
lonica,) and that the lions only attacked
the camels, not meddling with the men,
or even with the horses. The reason is
evident enough. The lions knew by ex-
perience that man possessed bows, ar
rows, spears and nets, and was a mysteri-
GUS animal which could not be attacked
without danger. Horses, too, were
swift of foot, and could not be captured
without more trouble than lion cares
TO take. Moreover, the horse has an
awkward way of lashing out with his
hind hoofs when it can turn upon its
enemy. Whereas, the camel is too
slow of foot to escape by speed. and
has no hoofs of which the lion would
be afraid. That the lion was once
plentiful we find from many passages
Of the Old Testament, too numerous for
quotation. At the present day the lion
is as extinct in Palestine as it is in Eu-
rope, and the shepherd need no longer
fear it as devastator of his flocks.
The lion is crowded out" obeying the
same law as that which has extirpated
the aborigional Tasmanians. and which
is gradually destroying the Maori of
New Zealand, the Papuan of Fiji, the
black man of Australia and the red
man of Northern America. They
want too much room. 1t is impossible,
for example, for red man to maintain
his family in comfort ON less than
thousand acres of soil, so that when he
comes in contact with races to whom a
hundreth part of that land is sufficient,
he is obliged to retire before them. So
it is with the lion. His stronghold is
Africa, though he extends partly into
Asia, where he overlaps, as has been
well said, the domain of the tiger
But Africa is being invaded on all sides
by Europeans, and in consequence the
lion has to retire before the conquering
race. The animal is as practically ex-
tinct in Durham, Grahanr's Town, Cape
Town, or indeed any European settle
ment, as in Greece or Palestine. Still,
throughout the greater part of Africa
the lion maintains its sway, though it
is never as actively aggressive rs the
tiger. Even when aye and infrmity
compel it to become a man eater, it
does not desolate whole districts, as
does the tiger, but confines its depreda-
tons within comparatively small
limit. Except when an intruder passes
near the spot where it is nurturing its
young, it will seldom take the initiative
and attack man. but will try to slip
away quietly.-Good Words.